Bride of Christ, who is she? 40 Years with Jesus & Prophecy

Some call me a romantic, an idealist or a dreamer who is out of touch with reality but this March 30th 2015 I am starting my 15th year of being crazy in love with my wife Sandy Spencer. With this overwhelming desire to race home every day after work just to be in her presence, I have been given a partial inside glance of how Jesus views His Bride to be.

I was studying with a friend several years ago and he just blurted out;

…everyone knows who the Bride of Christ is!

Do you know who the Bride of Christ is? Do you think you are in that company? Are there any qualifications that are expected to be met? Can you point out those that are the Bride of Christ and those that are not? What is her purpose both now & in the future?

In this hour of prophetic fulfillment many religious people will try to persuade you to make eternal decisions based on Heaven or Hell; what a pathetic existence of fear based teaching. Yes Heaven & Hell are very, very real but our motivation of eternity cannot be based on NOT GOING TO Hell therefore Heaven is a better alternative. Our eternity is not based on where but on whom. The Bride of Christ is NOTHING without the Groom: Jesus.

I will give you the answers right up front, if this speaks to you then enjoy the details that follow.

The Bride of Christ is:

Real people.

Gentiles not Jews, not composed of Old Testament Saints.

In love with Jesus, the Son of our Living God.

The ones that have submitted to the cleansing & purifying of His Word.

Not the whole Church but a called-out body, from a called-out body.

Many are called but she will be chosen from the called by a set of virtues.

The 100 fold; not the 60 fold or 30 fold chosen from the same ground or field.

Prepared for the rapture event that starts the Wedding Feast.

Will be caught away in the rapture event.

The rapture of the Bride is the first fruits offering of the barley harvest.

John’s vision of the 24 elders with crowns (not the multitude) Revelation 4.

The ones that say: “Come.” Revelation 22:17.

The Bride can be also be identified by 5 crowns or rewards for her earthly service:

Victor’s Crown: overcoming the desires of the flesh 1Corinthians 9:25.

Crown of Glory: leading those in your influence with a righteous example 1 Peter 5:1-4

Again, the one true motive behind all of this service is because we are so crazy in love with our Lord Jesus, thankful for his: life, death & resurrection, living in full faith that He is preparing a place for us and that He can’t wait to have His Harold proclaim: “Behold the Bridegroom cometh!”

If you realize you are not in this company of The Bride of Christ, make yourself ready…choose to be chosen!

Details of the above declarations

The Word of God is full of Keys of Truth that unlock Life Mysteries!

Know Truth & be Set Free!

We must mix all of the scriptures with faith or they remain as just words on a page. Over 40 years ago I was seeking Truth and I was given the very Word of God that pointed me to God’s Son Jesus and The Holy Spirit or the “Spirit of Truth” that teaches me all things! Wow what a package deal!

If this treasure hunt together is too slow, Email me with the key you are looking for and perhaps I can unlock a quicker path to find it!

Look Up: 40 Yrs. with Jesus

There comes a time when our lives would be much better if we would just look up.

Our dog Cowboy is getting up in years and surely his sense of smell is better than his eyesight. In the woods he was on the scent of the elk that linger on our property especially in the winter. Nose to the ground, at the edge of the pond with a full charge forward…it would have been much better if he had just looked up. Like a “slapstick” cartoon he actually ran into the largest elk of the bunch; he yelps, takes a submissive roll to his back and then slides into the pond.

In the past 40 years walking with Jesus, I have discovered three types of people:

Group One:

…those that drift aimlessly down the river, their compass is what “feels” good and usually with no goals or sense of direction. They have the thought that they cannot affect their destiny, therefore they try to “experience” everything with no consideration of consequences from choices or worse; lack of choices. They seem to have a lot of “drama” in their lives, little depth of truth, fleeting pleasure and little happiness. These remind me of those in Philippians 3:18-20 “…who set their minds on earthly things.” (read the rest below)

Group Two:

…those who crave knowledge and have mastered the Bible: “knowing” everything about the Jewish calendar & feasts, understanding the prophecies of end time eternity, dazzling those around with their expertise of the “tions” salvation, sanctification, redemption, justification, resurrection, dispensations, elections, predestination…blah, blah, blah. Possessing such great knowledge results in a life of: rules, laws and legalism but no relationship with the very Author of the Bible. This reminds me of Martha the sister of Lazarus in Luke 10:40 “…Martha was distracted with all her preparations…”Or the verse in Matthew 13:14 “In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.”

Group Three:

…these may look like they are aimlessly drifting, but in reality they are flowing toward a predetermined destiny. They may consume large quantities of Bible information but more like a treasure hunter learning as much as they can about the author of the book. They are constantly looking up as Mary (the other sister of Lazarus) did when she sat at the feet of Jesus; listening, learning in a relationship with the one who was speaking. Luke 10:39 “…Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word.”

Like our dog Cowboy, perhaps we would all be better off, if we just looked up.

Luke 21:28And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

Revelation 4:1After this I looked (up), and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.

Philippians 3:18-20For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Psalm 46:10Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!

The Word of God is full of Keys of Truth that unlock Life Mysteries!

Know Truth & be Set Free!

We must mix all of the scriptures with faith or they remain as just words on a page. Over 40 years ago I was seeking Truth and I was given the very Word of God that pointed me to God’s Son Jesus and The Holy Spirit or the “Spirit of Truth” that teaches me all things! Wow what a package deal!

If this treasure hunt together is too slow, Email me with the key you are looking for and perhaps I can unlock a quicker path to find it!

February 16, 2015: I have not dreamed like this for years. Walking in my old office at Christian Faith Center in Western Washington, it was dark outside my window and I knew the evening service was about to begin. I was rushed by the music leader and told that I was leading the singing and the musicians, sound team & the graphic team who put the words on the flat screens needed my song list.

I looked around my office & it was just as I left it when I was fired back in 1993, I reached to a top shelf to get a 3 ringed binder with most of the old songs I used to sing but the binder was gone and I realized I kept tugging at my suit, I was not comfortable at all.

Next there was a woman outside my door yelling, as I open the door I see that she was with two other lady friends of hers that were trying to quite her and get her to leave. She was demanding to know why Casey Treat was supporting an issue that was Non Biblical. I began to ask her about the issue when someone started to whisper in my ear: “Ask her if she is a member” she said: “Yes”. Then the voice instructed me to ask her: “Which Campus” when I asked her she just got mad, I realized I was not helping her but only deflected the conversation back to make her “feel” like she lost the argument (this was a typical Religious Babylonian tactic). Then I began to boldly speak in other tongues to clear the atmosphere of demonic confusion and everyone quickly left.

Reentering my office I saw Casey standing in front of my desk, he didn’t look so good and I could tell he was perturbed as the service was being delayed, I can’t remember Casey saying anything just then the sound guy rushed in and started wiring me with a mic but it felt all bunched up under my suitcoat. I walked down the hallway with him then I slipped into the rest room to try to fix my coat. As I looked in the mirror it wasn’t that I was fat, it was the suit itself; it just didn’t fit any more.

Leaving the restroom, the hallway was clear, I could hear Casey’s voice from the auditorium trying to lead singing and it was horrible. No band just someone playing “off key” on the piano. As I entered the auditorium I noticed it had been remodeled, it had the feeling of an old religious décor; pews with song books, four foot white walls separating the people from the platform, an all-white piano and it just looked, felt & smelt old & dead. A staff member I remember on the music team walked up to the stage mic, trying to take the awkward feeling off of Casey, he tried to pray in tongues like I had done earlier but he added a “sing song” style to it and it was hideous but the congregation couldn’t discern it one way or the other, they all seemed hypnotized.

I actually squeezed into a pew full of people to get a hymnal and the people acted as if I was invisible, they didn’t even see me. I started to grab a hymnal but there weren’t any; now all of the backs of the pews were filled with old library books and trash.

I stood up straight, still very uncomfortable in the suit I was wearing, looked around with a feeling of exhaustion, weariness, sadness and despair. Dream over.

For me personally I know exactly what the dreams means, God is very clear with me and I don’t need to post my interpretation for me but what about you? Does this dream speak to you on any level? If I can help, write me and let me know.

About Thomas Spencer – The Bible Guy

I am a lover of Truth, a born again disciple & Ambassador of Jesus who is: The Son of our Living God, Savior of all mankind, resurrected from the dead, seated at the right hand of God & Head of The Church. I am called to preach the love and acceptance to all mankind & reconcile them to God before the door of Grace & Mercy shuts at the end of this age.

The Bible Guy Timeline:
1958 – Born in Iola Kansas with three older brothers and deceased younger sister
1964 – 1970 Lincoln Grade School
1970 – 1973 Iola Junior High School, worked at local clothing store until 1977
1973 – 1976 Iola High School
1974 – Accepted Jesus as Lord at the age of 15
1974 – Called into ministry in Kansas
1976 – Finished High School in Kansas. Worked at Silver Dollar City Missouri
1977 – Ordained into ministry in Kansas, worked at Iola Assembly of God, finished Allen County Junior College in Iola
1980 – Finished College in Springfield Missouri; SMSU and Evangel Bible
1981 – Ministered full time to 22 denominational youth groups in San Diego California
1986 – Ministered full time with Home Group development in Spokane Washington,
1987 – Established several businesses in Washington State
1988 – Established a 30 member Home Group in Kent Washington
1989 – Hired by Casey Treat to lead 250 Home Groups in Western Washington
1990 – 1991 help to establish three new ministries from Casey Treat Ministries
1992 – Understood his specific calling as an Establisher
1993 – Established a House Ministry in Washington, launched from Casey’s Ministry
1993 – 1998 Established 30 “House Ministries” in Washington State: Federal Way, Kent, Burien, Puyallup, Edgewood, and Tacoma’s; North Side, Old Town, Hill Top and Pacific Ave Washington
1997 – Prayed the prayer of Nehemiah 9 over Tacoma and then was instructed by the Lord to “Glean” what he could and flee Tacoma WA
1998 – Published first book http://www.TheChurchWhatisit.com
1999 – The House Ministry was dismantled
2000 – Wife of 20 years left him and he went through a “Job’s Trial”
2001 – Remarried and started six years of healing and restoration
2003 – Established http://www.TheBibleGuy.com with TheBibleGuy Blog
2006 – Called to re-enter Tacoma Washington after 10 years
2006 – Experienced restoration with a ministry team in Tacoma
2007 – The Holy Spirit rekindled the “Flame” for small group discipleship.
2009 – Participating in a first time Shelby Kennedy Foundation National Bible Bee. Our little group placed 3 youth out of 17,000 in the finals in Washington DC!
2011 – 2013 Continued in business, built our new house and started a new small group, revised The Church What is it to – Church What it is & is not. Three year study on the book of Daniel with the book of Revelation, discerning the End Time Prophecies.

2014 – (February 3) celebrating 14,245 Days with Jesus! Republishing Ira Surface’s 1920 book with Last Days Time Line: The First & Last. Started ongoing Free EBooks: 40 Years with Jesus, The Ambassador, End Time Ambassadors, Church vs Ministry & Prophecy Today.
2015 – Finished Discipleship Material: The Arrival Kit with 70 video teaching clips. Looking everyday for Jesus to part the clouds & to hear His Voice like a trumpet say: “Come up here” then to observe the dead in Christ as they rise first & then the amazing event of joining them in the clouds with Jesus Revelation Chapter 4

Knowing where God lives: 40 Yrs. with Jesus – Day 142,563

There are keys and then there are master keys.

Knowing where God lives or where His Presence is or where He invests His: time, energy, resources and life has become the most valuable master key in my life.

Isaiah 57:15a (NKJV) For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:

I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit…

I have discovered some religions practice one or the other but have not found one that practices both. See if you can understand the master key here.

Contrite and Humble but no reverence for the Holy

I have been in meetings where broken people have come to the end of themselves, cried out to God and have fallen on the floor laughing uncontrollably. Quoting the verse Isaiah 61:3 (NKJV) “…The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness…” but then observed as the “flesh” takes over and they start barking like dogs (no reverence).

Legalistically Reverent but no intimate experience

On the other hand I have walked into meetings where everyone is legalistically threatened to enter like an old-fashioned library; most of the women wore grey with their hair up in buns and the men cowered like passive pets. They were trying to honor God who dwells in the High and Holy Place but actually made Him unreachable altogether.

The Master Key is to live in both! Tips I have discovered…

When I pray in public, I formally pray to our Father in Heaven (the High and Holy Place) in The Name of Jesus; referring to Jesus as Royalty; my King, my Lord, The Son of God! In contrast when I pray in the presence of our small group or my family or just all by myself; the atmosphere in the room turns more informal.

My language and worship dive deep, personal and intimate. There is no concern here for formalities or ritual. This is the place where my spirit prays: deep to deep. A place where there is no concern for time or schedules. It is the time of true confession and repentance and worship and deep joy with great hope and incomparable faith. The place where God dwells: in a contrite and humble spirit while maintaining reverence for the High and Holy!

The Word of God is full of Keys of Truth that unlock Life Mysteries!

Know Truth & be Set Free!

If this treasure hunt together is too slow, Email me with the key you are looking for and perhaps I can unlock a quicker path to find it!

Key to Freedom – Forgiveness: 40 Yrs. with Jesus

Day 142,561

We do seem like fakes; the times we have said we forgive when deep down in our hearts we want that person to burn in hell. We learned as children to say “sorry” but forgiveness is deeper, it is a process but, I have discovered that there is that moment when it really comes true!

Growing up we called it our “bad bag”. Everyone that caused us an injustice, we carried around in our thoughts every day. Then if a new person harmed us we would throw them in the bag with everyone else and compound the injustices that were already in the bag.

Some men have gone to the moon, discovered cures for diseases, saved people from burning buildings or have written the greatest symphony…well…my great goal, accomplishment, achievement was to empty my “bad bag”.

It is a process; one that for me started by understanding the injustices that Jesus; the Son of God encountered and then followed His path of how to forgive. I have honestly prayed Matthew 6:12 “…And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors” (NKJV). Today I can pray it in advance:

Father God I purpose in my heart to forgive in advance anyone who would try to harm me or my family this day, help me to walk in forgiveness, Amen.

Today I pray that you would open YOUR “bad bag” and just dump it, you may feel like a fake in the beginning but as the process continues it DOES become REAL!

The Forgiveness Key

The Word of God is full of Keys of Truth that unlock Life Mysteries!

Know Truth & be Set Free!

If this treasure hunt together is too slow, Email me with the key you are looking for and perhaps I can unlock a quicker path to find it!

Time to glean

These past years the commission from my Lord Jesus has narrowed from a broad “shotgun” type ministry of the whole world, to a more focused target. Some would call me a missionary, not to an underdeveloped country but a missionary to the United States of America, primarily to the Gentile Church of the United States of America. Things have changed here and I am to be a witness to the fact that just because “man” changes things does not mean that God indorses those changes.

Time to take inventory of this once great nation; to see and hear what the Lord Jesus has to say about what to speak and what to do. “Father God I ask in Jesus Name that You would lead and guide us as we take inventory, let us stay focused on your tour, help us not to get distracted. In those places where it may seem dark and hopeless; hold our hand, give us strength and make Your purposes clear and sure. Amen”

There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.2 Timothy 3:1-5 (NIV)

Inventory:

Men and women who have called themselves spokesmen for God: have, are and continue to rape the sheep of God. These false teachers have left hundreds of thousands of people maimed, hurt, confused and broke. False Evangelists have physically gone from city to city operating in a spirit of witchcraft and stealing what little God’s sheep had. This destruction continues today through the airwaves. People have been paralyzed through lies, false hope and mind altering substances.

A word from our Lord (even though this may apply to other regions in the world, remember the context is the USA)

“This is the hour of final gleaning just as Ruth (Ruth 2:3) gleaned behind the reapers in the field of Boaz. Walk through the fields says our Lord, lift up the rubble, call out one more time, and communicate again with loved ones, even those who call you enemy.

Listen; listen for a breath, for a heartbeat for any interest in Truth. Reach out with faith; faith to bring little ones to salvation, faith to heal the sick and to cast out demons, faith to pray for a sound mind.

In this hour of final gleaning do not be distracted by the promoting of large crowds; glean the one, glean the two be the good servant (Matthew 24:45).”

If you need help on discipling a person once you have brought them to the Lord Jesus click on my free tools:

Treasure Hunter: 40 Yrs. with Jesus – Day 142,556

Gold Fever – In 1980 I travelled to Alaska with three other families on a gold mining expedition costing over 2 million dollars and personally lost everything. I journaled the event thinking I might sell it as a book, but it was so negative I burnt it in the fire. Now armed with this experience I turned to being a treasure hunter in the Word of God.

The Word of God is full of Keys of Truth that unlock Life Mysteries!

Know Truth & be Set Free!

We must mix all of the scriptures with faith or they remain as just words on a page. Over 40 years ago I was seeking Truth and I was given the very Word of God that pointed me to God’s Son Jesus and The Holy Spirit or the “Spirit of Truth” that teaches me all things! Wow what a package deal!

Here are three things I started my search with…

As we walk with Jesus He, through relationship gives us the Keys: Matthew 16:19 (NKJV) And I (Jesus) will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven…

There are real Enemies who don’t want us to have the Keys: Luke 11:52 (NKJV) “Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered.”

The attitude of a true treasure hunter is that we must seek believing that we will find. Hebrews 4:2 (NKJV) For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. Matthew 7:7 (NKJV) “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

If this treasure hunt together is too slow, Email me with the key you are looking for and perhaps I can unlock a quicker path to find it!

1st time to hold a girls hand in a circle, screaming yuck but really liking it…

1st time to drive a car, get a job, and wonder why the bank gave us that first loan.

A season where things were measured by the price of gas, a roll of stamps & penny candy,

Where we could safely test life and play before we became adults;

Playing sports, playing music, playing like couples in love and even being in plays,

Until we were all expected to grow up from boys to men & girls to women

I know for some who can’t let go, Hometown still seems to owe them something…

Yet others who are a little detached it is just their password on facebook,

For me, it is the vibrant color in my youth that allows me to paint my life today…

It was where passion for knowing truth was passed on by teachers, coaches, moms & dads.

Hometown was anything from perfect but it was real…

Our friends, family, pets, successes & failures…

Experiences that gave us a glimpse of who we wanted to be & who we did not want to be.

Now as we look back, the gigantic basketball court seems much smaller…

The initials carved into the tree seem a little silly…

That first car, well, it took more power to run the speakers than it did to make it up a hill.

I find myself referring to people & things as; “that old so and so”…

Questions start with; “Remember…” & “I wonder what happened to…”

Bad memories kind of fade into the shadows of time – but the thoughts of Jumping off the swing set, flying into the air & being a super hero once again are still just under the surface!

Hometown, a moment on the timeline of life, a reference of being, a circle of friends & family…

And a safe place to make mistakes & to overcome.

Could it be that God’s Original Design for Hometown was like one of three bird’s nests?

The nest that either had so much comfort we never wanted to leave…

The nest that had little comfort & so many stickers we couldn’t wait to leave…

The nest that was so high in the air with such a beautiful view that we looked back at the nest with great honor but we had to answer the call to adventure to jump out & fly, testing & challenging all that we had been taught in our Hometown.

I now see that I have never fit in. I was always the kid with more questions than answers; I was named Thomas for a reason. I was not one to believe things until I could see them with my own eyes. Oh, I was popular in school because I was an overachiever. I was an overachiever because I was never satisfied with my current condition. Throw in sexual abuse, competition with my three older brothers for our parents’ attention, plus spirits of fear of death and depression from my younger sister dying just after birth and you get me; Thomas a kid who never fit in. Today is no different and perhaps worst but now I finally understand!

Jesus speaking about His disciples and you and me:

I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. John 17:17 (NKJV)

It seemed lonely for years but today I have embraced the fact that we are not supposed to fit in. People in the world hate me because the Holy Spirit of God in me agitates the demonic spirit in them. The truth is I don’t belong here I am just visiting at best. This earth… it isn’t my home and one day I will be leaving. This world and its earthly cares have no place for me.

The things that matter to my worldly neighbors, town and government mean nothing to me. For evangelism sake I can relate with sinners and what is important to them but only for a while and then I move on to Truth. This is part of a song I have sung for 40 years: “Turn your eyes upon Jesus…and the things of earth shall grow strangely deem in the light of His Glory and Grace.”

Leaders in the organized religious institutions hate me because I am a threat to their very existence and members of those denominations hate me because I have been labelled as rebellious and a nonconformist trying to divide The True Church and sinfully scatter our Lord’s sheep. I am in good company for the religious said the same about our Lord Jesus.

Matthew 11:18 “For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’…”

Matthew 23 – Jesus hands out 7 woes to the religious leaders of the day and calls them all hypocrites. Believe me 2000 years nothing has changed.

I was first discipled in the Assembly of God denomination and while in their Bible College I did a report on: When the Methodist denomination lost it power. One of the devastating turns was when they tried to fit in and transitioned from a Holy Ghost, rolling on the floor, tongue talking, Spirit filled, evangelistic healing movement into…well… what they have today. Today they fit in; they have become the same as the world they live in. My paper concluded that the Assemblies of God did the same (just like all of the rest of the denominations).

When I wrote my first book: The Church What is it? now revised to: Church what it is and is not, I was told by my “god father” in Kansas, that if I published it I would never minister in Kansas again.